Daily WHUFC News - 14th August 2017

Red Devil Lukaku haunts Hammers again
WHUFC.com

Romelu Lukaku haunted West Ham United once again as his brace helped
Manchester United to a 4-0 opening-day Premier League win at Old Trafford.
The Belgium striker made it eleven goals in 13 career appearances against
the Hammers with a goal in each half before substitute Anthony Martial and
compatriot Paul Pogba completed Sunday's scoring as full-time approached.
Lukaku was at his predatory best on a Super Sunday for the Red Devils,
lashing home Marcus Rashford's pass just past the half-hour mark, before
nodding in Henrikh Mkhitaryan's free-kick to complete the scoring eight
minutes after the break. In truth, Manchester United were full value for
their victory as West Ham named four Premier League debutants - Joe Hart,
Pablo Zabaleta, Marko Arnautovic and former Manchester United striker
Chicharito - in the same game for the first time in exactly 12 years. Sadly,
the result was not the same as that game, a 4-2 home win over Blackburn
Rovers, as Jose Mourinho's expensively-assembled side controlled proceedings
for long periods. Manchester United won nine corners and had ten goal
attempts in the first half, one of which saw Lukaku open the scoring with a
lethal finish in off the base of the post. Nemanja Matic charged down Pedro
Obiang's attempted pass and the ball span into the path of Rashford, whose
pass split the Hammers defence and the new Red Devils No9 did the rest. West
Ham's best chance of the opening period came seconds before the interval,
when decent interplay involving Chicharito, Mark Noble and Andre Ayew
created space for Edimilson Fernandes, but David De Gea was able to parry
his fierce shot.

Into the second half and West Ham momentarily threatened before Lukaku
scored his second. Zabaleta was booked for bringing down Rashford and the
No9 was allowed the time and space to head Mkhitaryan's free-kick into the
bottom right-hand corner. Five minutes later, West Ham created their second
clear chance when Fernandes crossed diagonally from deep for Arnautovic, who
craned his neck and sent a dipping header over De Gea but unfortunately onto
the top of the crossbar. Despite that chance, Bilic opted to change things
up, bringing on Declan Rice and Diafra Sakho for Mark Noble and Fernandes,
but the substitutes could not stem the red tide. For the final half-hour, it
was almost all Manchester United, with Rashford crashing a shot against the
base of the post and Blind volleying a yard over the top, before two late
goals rubbed salt into West Ham's wounds. First, with three minutes of the
90 remaining, Mkhitaryan's final touch sent Martial through and he poked
confidently past the advancing Hart to make it 3-0. Then in the final minute
of normal time, Martial turned provider for Pogba, who took a touch, drove
through the heart of the Hammers defence and calmly placed the ball beyond
the goalkeeper.

Manchester United: De Gea, Valencia C, Bailly, Jones, Blind, Matic, Pogba,
Mata (Fellaini 75), Mikhitaryan (Lingard 88), Rashford (Martial 80), Lukaku
Subs not used: Romero (GK), Darmian, Smalling, Herrera
Goals: Lukaku 33, 52, Martial 87, Pogba 90
Booked: Bailly, Valencia

West Ham United: Hart, Zabaleta, Reid, Ogbonna, Masuaku (Cresswell 81),
Obiang, Noble C (Rice 61), Fernandes (Sakho 61), Ayew, Arnautovic,
Chicharito
Subs not used: Adrian (GK), Byram, Collins, Fonte
Booked: Zabaleta, Ogbonna

Referee: Martin Atkinson
Attendance: 74,928

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Slaven Bilic: I expected more from us
WHUFC.com

Slaven Bilic was disappointed with his team's performance after the Hammers
fell to a 4-0 opening day defeat to Manchester United on Sunday. West Ham's
old nemesis, Romelu Lukaku, struck again with two more goals to add to his
tally against the east Londoners, before late strikes from Anthony Martial
and Paul Pogba added insult to injury. Bilic spoke before the game of
feeling optimistic for the trip to Old Trafford, so he was frustrated to see
the visitors getting beaten at the basics and not giving themselves a chance
of bettering last season's point against Jose Mourinho's men. "I expected
more, of course," the boss said. "I have to admit it, they were much the
better side in every aspect of the game. They were better in the air, they
were better on the floor and better in 50-50 challenges.
"We knew they had a strong side, but I expected us to do much better than we
did on Sunday. "We were much slower than them. They had pace up front and
the quality, and we didn't want to get exposed in one-on-one situations,
because in those situations, individually they can make a difference. "So we
wanted to create the situation that we are two against one in our favour,
but to be fair we didn't have that today a lot. "It's very hard to find
positives when you lose 4-0, but we have to get up and get ready for the
next game."

The goal which took the contest away from West Ham, Lukaku's second, soon
after the restart, came from a wide set-play and Bilic was annoyed with the
simplicity of the goal. He added: "We knew that they have a threat on
set-plays. They have four or five really tall players who are good in the
box and that's why we practised set-pieces for three days in a row. "We
looked good, but if you give players like Lukaku so much time and are not
close to them, you can't expect better than [what happened]."

The boss made a positive change when introducing Diafra Sakho from the bench
not long after the hour, and he thought the Hammers created some positive
situations, but admitted they need to show more focus if they are to make a
swift improvement. He explained: "We tried to switch to 4-4-2 because we
needed another player up-front with Chicharito, who was quite decent but was
isolated. "So we put Sakho on with him and took a bit of a risk. We created
some opportunities, some good situations which didn't end up with a shot or
a good chance, but what we didn't want to happen was concede two goals late
in the game.
"Basically we need to become more focused, because we have been training
well. In the game we need to show determination in every situation, in every
throw-in, because when you play Man Utd you need to beat them in that
department. "But they were better than us doing the dirty work and if they
are better than you in the dirty work [they will win]."

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Chicharito: Manchester United were simply ruthless
WHUFC.com

Chicharito's return to the Theatre of Dreams turned into a nightmare as
Manchester United defeated West Ham United 4-0 in their opening Premier
League fixture.
The Hammers were haunted by two goals from Romelu Lukaku and late strikes
from Anthony Martial and Paul Pogba at Old Trafford as the Mexican suffered
a heavy defeat at the stadium he called home for four seasons. Chicharito
was his usual busy self, always offering himself for the ball and making
runs in behind the home defence, but Jose Mourinho's men starved him of
service and restricted him to just one first half chance. "Of course, it
could have gone better for me and for us," he said. "Nobody wants to lose
4-0 on any pitch in the world, but they were a little bit better, more
ruthless and after the second goal, things went very positively for them."

West Ham's best chance fell not to Chicharito but to Swiss midfielder
Edimilson Fernandes on the stroke of half-time, but his rasping shot was
turned aside by David De Gea. When asked if the game would have turned out
differently had the No31 found the back of the net, the experienced Mexican
was not being drawn.
Instead, he pointed to Manchester United's clinical finishing as the major
reason for their emphatic victory. The Red Devils scored four goals from
just six shots on target. "It probably would have been different, but we
cannot speak about that because it wasn't a goal," he said. "In the first
half, we played really well but we had one big mistake and they scored.
"They are Manchester United and they finished us off."

West Ham did not lose because of any lack of effort, the new No17 claimed,
but because they were playing against the better team on the day. "We did
everything and we tried to play as well as we can, but Manchester United
pushed us a little bit back because they are a great team," he observed. "We
had chances even after they scored their second goal, when we had a header
from Arnie which hit the crossbar. "It's the first game of the season and
obviously we are not happy with the result. We played a team who were in
better form than us. We can say a lot of stuff, but that won't change
anything if I say it. "We lost to a better team and now we have to improve
and keep working."

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REF WATCH: MARTIN ATKINSON - MANCHESTER UNITED VS WEST HAM
AUTHOR: SAMTWHWREF. PUBLISHED: 13 AUGUST 2017 AT 7:51PM
TheWestHamWay.co.uk
Written by @SamRoyden

With what seemed like an eternity, the Premier League has resumed with a
bang and it's great to be back writing for TheWestHamWay. As I sat in a
little bar called Helders in Carvoeiro, Portugal, taking a break from my
vacation and the 26 degree heat, I had a sense of optimism which was quickly
brought back down to earth when my girlfriend's brother hit me which some
damaging stats. Jose Mourinho has never lost a game at home on a Sunday as a
manager and West Ham haven't won their last opening 10 games, the bubble
truly burst after hearing that

There was a lot of drama in the opening fixtures of the new season with
unexpected wins, a lot of goals and three red cards: two cautionable
offences included dissent by action or word, violent conduct and a dangerous
challenge by use of excessive force - The debate on these red cards could go
on through the night. Martin Atkinson was the referee named for the last
fixture of Gameweek one and in my opinion, one of the most consistent
referees over the past two or three seasons.

Martin Atkinson started the game well with good decisive decision-making and
on top of the challenges flying in, both teams seemed rusty with their
timing and tackling.

In the first half, Manchester United had a couple of half-hearted penalty
appeals when goalscorer Romeu Lukaku went down within the 6 yard box. There
was no contact by West Ham defender's as Lukaku reached his outstretched
left leg to make contact with the ricocheting ball inside the penalty area.
Paul Pobga found himself becoming frustrated after Atkinson waved away his
penalty appeals on two occasions. From the Manchester United corner, Angelo
Ogbonna was tightly marking the French international and went down under
minimal pressure. In my opinion, Pogba went down too easily but players have
to be careful with pulling and pushing in the penalty area as referees
started to crack down on these fouls last season. The other was for a
challenge with the West Ham player fairly won the ball.

Atkinson managed the game well and allowed the game to flow and found
himself being lenient on occasions especially with Nemanja Matic. On more
than one occasion, Matic was late with his challenges, which could have been
deemed as yellow card offences. On both of these occasions, Atkinson chose
not to punish the Manchester United defending midfielder but Atkinson will
have kept tabs on his challenges

The only caution of the first half was for Manchester United centre back
Eric Bailly. The strong central defender caught West Ham's new number 17
Javier Hernandez high on the shin/knee with a clumsy challenge when
Hernandez was on the half turn - even though the attempt was genuine, Bailly
should have no complaints especially when you catch a player late and high
on the leg, even if it's accidental.

In the second half, the only performance that depleted was West Ham's.
Manchester United performance was very strong on the attack with Henrikh
Mkhitaryan, Marcus Rashford and Romeu Lukaku leading in a front three. If
i'm being honest with you, the second half for Martin Atkinson was as
routine as you could get. Atkinson continued to control the game and the
cautions he produced were obvious and stonewall cautionable offences.

Pablo Zabaleta showed why Manchester City rated him so highly. Even though
on this debut game, four goals have been chalked against his name, the
Argentine showed his experience throughout bellowing orders and managing the
defensive line. However, his experience resulted in a caution for his block
on Marcus Rashford. The young Englishman was looking to run down Zabaleta's
weak side before being blocked. A simple booking and one that cannot be
argued.

Marko Arnautović looked promising throughout but understandably needs some
time to settle into the new team. Arnautović was on the receiving end of a
poor challenge by Antonio Valencia after some good hold up play from the
ex-Stoke man. Valencia was late to react and caught Arnautović on the top of
his planted ankle - Nothing less than a sore one for the Austrian and
Atkinson cautioned Valencia for his attempt.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan looked very lively all game and with two assists against
his name had his chances to get on the score sheet however it was disallowed
for offside. West Ham's defence was left in no mans land and Rashford
darting past the defence-splitting passes from midfield, only to be 2 yards
offside when Mkhitaryan slotted the ball home from close range. A great
decision by the linesman, in which both performed well throughout.

Overall, Martin Atkinson and his officiating team had a good game which
seemed very routine and without controversy. With the new technology like
VAR potentially coming into the Premier League next season, this will only
help ease pressure on referees with the speed and the intensity of the game
ever-increasing.

In the first game of the season, naturally your going to have some rust
within the squad but exceptions have been set and being thumped 4-0 at
Manchester United was not one of them. It is evident that a lot of work
still needs to be done and what an opportunity against a Southampton team
who struggled for goals last season and have problems of their own. Ex has
confirmed that William Carvalho is flying in next week for talks and
hopefully to secure a deal - a player of his calibre will be one of the best
pieces of business this transfer window if deal gets over the line.

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MANCHESTER UNITED 4-0 WEST HAM - MATCH REPORT
AUTHOR: BRIAN KNOX. PUBLISHED: 13 AUGUST 2017 AT 6:38PM
TheWestHamWay.co.uk
Match Report by @WestHamAmerican

West Ham fell today at Old Trafford 4-0 in the final match of the opening
weekend of the 2017-18 Premier League season. Slavin Bilic, despite his
popular summer transfer additions, came to Manchester without a few of his
more dependable weapons, as Manuel Lanzini, Michael Antonio, Andy Carroll,
and Cheikhou Kouyaté were unable to play today due to injury. For José
Mourinho, he came to the ground with a wealth of options, as would be
expected with Manchester United's wages, including summer additions Nemanja
Matić and Romelu Lukaku.

Both United additions earned their wage for the day as Lukaku opened up the
scoring midway through the opening half after Matic took possession in the
middle third and moved it to Rashford who moved it towards the penalty area,
passed to Lukaku who scored as the ball posted off into the net.

The Hammers had few chances in the opening half, but in the final moment of
added time, they showed a bit of optimism when Javier Hernandez crossed to
Noble who dropped back to a free Fernandes, but De Gea had a strong block to
end the half.

The second half saw Lukaku pick up where he left off, as Mkhitaryan's
free-kick found Lukaku and his header was beyond Hart's reach. With a two
goal deficit, and a midfield that couldn't maintain possession, Bilic called
on Diafra Sakho and Declan Rice. The move seemingly stabilized the midfield
for much of the remainder of the half.

During the second half, there were multiple times West Ham was under fire,
but the new signings Joe Hart and Pablo Zabaleta showed great work rate
despite, not much help around them.

Late in the half the wheels really came off as Mkhitaryan found Martial, who
found the corner of the goal. The 87th minute goal wouldn't be the end.
The final embarrassment came moments later as Paul Pogba scored from range
in the 90th minute.

During the three minutes of added time, West Ham managed to milk the clock
and walk away with a shameful result in the season opener.

It can be said that Manchester United is a stacked squad with weapons all
over the pitch, and that West Ham has some missing pieces, but the poor
defending and lack of purpose in the middle third of the pitch from the West
Ham midfielders made Chicharito's debut a non-event. On the first weekend
of the season, after such a positive summer transfer window, West Ham is at
the bottom of the Premier League table. Slaven Bilic, in the final year of
his contract, has to work some wonders keep his team believing, and keep his
fans supporting him after this match. A short week and a trip to St. Mary's
will be the opportunity to turn the ship around. After today, that
opportunity can't come soon enough.

Man United: De Gea, Valencia, Bailly, Jones, Blind, Matic, Pogba, Mata,
Mkhitaryan, Rashford, Lukaku
Subs: Romero, Darmain, Smalling, Fellaini (76'), Herrera, Lingard (88'),
Martial (80')

West Ham: Hart, Zabaleta, Reid, Ogbonna, Masuaku, Noble, Obiang, Fernandes,
Arnoutovic, Ayew, Chicharito
Subs: Adrian, Cresswell (81'), Byram, Fonte, Collins, Rice(61'), Sakho
(60'),

Referee: Martin Atkinson
Attendance: 74,928

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